10 Movie Posters That Spoiled EVERYTHING

When movie posters straight-up gave everything away.

Bodies Bodies Bodies
A24

It's a common complaint among film fans that movie marketing gives way too much away, with trailers often outlining almost the entire story before audiences have even sat down to watch it for themselves.

And even if you quite sensibly decide to go spoiler blackout on a film's trailers, it's always possible that even a single, unavoidable poster will flat-out tell you how everything ends anyway.

That's certainly true of these 10 movie posters, all of which shamelessly gave the game away without a thought in the world for those who might prefer to experience the biggest and most iconic moments for themselves, totally un-spoiled.

A few of these posters at least get a few points for creativity, but most have been rightly dinged for leaving little to the audience's imagination, and ruining the joy of discovery in the process.

Some have a few subtle elements you might not fully appreciate until you've seen the film, while others just describe the whole-ass plot of the movie, including its ending, in the most basic and annoying way.

Either way, they're yet further proof that marketing intended to inform audiences can sometimes go way too far...

10. The Ritual - The Cabin In The Woods

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Lionsgate

Most of the marketing for The Cabin in the Woods nicely played coy about the precise nature of its seemingly tropey horror movie setup. The trailer did of course suggest a sci-fi twist, but still kept things vague enough to be interesting.

But the poster for the film's Japanese release dropped any and all pretense of preserving the big secret, by blatantly showing the underground facility which contains the various cube-like prisons containing the monsters unleashed at the end of the film.

The poster makes it painfully clear that The Cabin in the Woods isn't just an Evil Dead knock-off - it shamelessly reveals the big sci-fi conceit that isn't fully unfurled until much late in the story.

Sure, it doesn't quite go the whole hog and write, "It's part of a world-saving ritual!" in neon lights, but gives more than enough context for most people who see the poster to start figuring out what's going on.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.